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Wednesday, December 16, 2009

France to digitize cultural treasures

France will spend nearly $1.16 billion Cdn to digitize its national treasures, President Nicolas Sarkozy told reporters in Paris on Monday. The money is part of a $54-billion stimulus package the president announced to boost France's economic growth and competitiveness. The plan to scan French literary works, audiovisual archives and historical documents by computer underscores the Sarkozy government's push to maintain control of its cultural heritage in the face of online giant Google's global drive to digitize the world's literary works. "We are going to launch a big public-private partnership" to digitize national holdings such as archives and museum pieces "while still staying in charge of our heritage," the French president said. "There is no question of letting this heritage go."

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